Machine for trimming and compressing sheet metal



2 Sheets-Shet 1.

(No Model.)

G. D. HERBOLDSHIMER. MACHINE FOR TRIMMING AND GOMPRES'SING' SHEET METAL.

Patented Mar. 3,1891.

lLnLI ammm'oz' a, h m fitted/1421.3

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE D. HERBOLDSHIMER, OF WESTERNPORT, MARYLAND. v

MACHINE FOR TRIMMING AND COMPRESSING SHEET METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 447,515, dated March 3, 1891.

Application filed August 7, 1890. Serial No. 361,310. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE D. HERBOLD- sH[MER,residing at \Vesternport,in the county of Allegheny and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Trimming and Compressing Sheet Metal, of whichthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to sheet-metal trimming, compressing, and coiling machines of the character specially intended for use in preparing tinned plates for roofing purposes.

The object of the invention is to produce a machine in which sheets of tinned iron or the like, (commonly known as tin plates,) which have been lapped together, mayhave the joints compressed; also, mechanism by which the edges may be trimmed; also mechanism by which the trimmed strips may be rolled or coiled in convenient form for shipment.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of clutch-coupling on windingshaft. Fig. 5 is a detail section on line y y, Fig. 3, showing rolls and cutter.

The numeral 1 indicates the bed-plate of the machine, and 2 2 the standards, in which the pressure-rolls have their bearings. The standards 2 have fixed bearings 3 fora roll 4, the upper surface of which is about on a level with the top of the bed-plate. Sliding boxes 5 in the standards 2 support a yielding roll 6. The boxes 5 are guided vertically in the standards, and springs 7 tend to hold the boxes down. The top of the spring 7 bears against a follower 8, and a screw 9 over each follower, passing through a cross-bar 10 of the standard, is used for adjusting the tension of the springs. The roll 6 is therefore directly above roll 4 and in position so that plates may be fed from the table 1 directly between the rolls, and the pressure of the springs on the boxes or bearings of the upper roll will determine the pressure which the rolls exert.

The axles 4 and 6 of the rolls 4 and 6 extend outside the bearings in the standards 2. At one end of the machine pinions 14 and 16 are applied to these axles and firmly keyed thereon, so that the gears mesh together and cause the rolls to move together. One rollpreferably the upper one-has rotary knives or cutters 17 17, one at each end. The other roll has a shoulder 18, past which the knife 17 cuts.

The length of rolls 4 and 6, between the knives 17 17, is the same as the width to which tin plates should be cut for use in roofing, say, twenty or twentyeight inches. The cutting-r0116 may be made in sections, and one of the knives placed between the sections Ct a around the central shaft 6 (See Fig. 5.) Then by removing and replacing sections the movable knife 17 may be adjusted nearer to the knife 17 to work on narrower strips. Of course the roll 4 will be in sections to correspond, and close joints will be preserved between adjacent sections of the roll when a long roll is used.

Sheets of tin are joined together by lapping or turning one edge over the other. The strip thus joined together is then led into the machine on table 1, the gage or side guide 20 serving to maintain the sheets pretty nearly in alignment. As the sheets pass through the machine, one side or the other, or both sides, of the sheet are trimmed off by knives 17 17 The rolls are adjusted, preferably, so as to cause little or no pressure on a sheet of common thickness. When a joint or seam reaches the roll, the seam is flattened down between the rolls, and the joined sheets pass on out of the machine ready for soldering. The gear 14 is connected by idlers 22 and 23, or so many such idlers as may be needed, to the gear 24 on the axle 25 of the winding-shaft 26. The shaft 26 is supported in suitable bearings 27 on the frame A of the machine. The axle 25 of said shaft has a fixed collar 30 thereon, and gear 24 rests against said collar, and may rotate on said axle 25. A friction-disk 31 is splined or keyed to the axle 25, so that it may slide lengthwise of the axle or shaft, but will not rotate thereon. A coil-spring 32, surrounds the axle and bears at one end against the disk 31 and at the other end against a nut 33 on the. axle or shaft 25. The nut 33 can thus be set to give more or less pressure on the spring, and the spring will cause the disk 31 to bear with greater or less friction against the gear 24. By this friction-clutch the axle 25 and the winding-drum 26 will be driven,but will be free to yield when the resistance is too great.

The winding shaft or drum 26 has a springflap i0, which is attached along one of its sides to the drum 2b.

The rolls i and (3 are hard and unyielding and are preferably of cast metal. The drum 26 may be of wood and the flap of thin sheet metal. The roll 4. may be driven by a pulley or drive-wheel ll or by a crank-handle T2 in suitable manner. After a number of sheets of tin have been joined by their overturned edges to form a roofing-strip, the first sheet is entered between the rolls 4E and 6 and guided by gage 20 between knives 17. The edges are trimmed by turning the rolls, knives 17 moving with the rolls 6. The end of the strip is entered under flap l0, and as the drum 20 is driven by the pinion and friction-gear the strip will be wound on said drum. After the strip extends once around the drum and flap, the strip will be held firmly to the winding-drum and will be drawn by the drum, as well as driven by the rolls i and (3, so as to apply pressure to the seam. \Vhen a seam or joint enters the rolls, it will be firmly compressed and flattened between them. \Vhen the entire strip is wound on the drum 26, it may be removed from the drum by taking the drum out of its bearings, the caps 27 being easily removable for the purpose. The roll of tin will then slightly uncoil, so as. to slip easilyfrom the drum. The

roll on the winding-drum increases in size as the work goes on; but the friction-gear permits a slip to compensate for this.

The friction may be regulated according to the nature of the work in hand. The bearings of the Winding-drum are preferably closed by caps held down by spring-catches it.

lVhile trinnning-machines have been used, I am not aware of any machine in this art in which the sheets may be trimmed at the edges, the joints compressed, an d the strips be wound at one operation.

\Vhat I claim is 1. A hard-surfaced roll in fixed bearings and a yielding roll in spring-pressed bearings, said movable roll being parallel with the roll in the fixed bearings, a disk-cutting blade on one roll cutting past a shoulder on the other roll, and gears connecting the rolls and cansing them to revolve in unison, substantially as described.

2. In a metal-trimming machine, the combination of a pair of trimming-rolls, one of the same provided with cutting" knives, as described, a winding-drum and intermediate pinions from the rolls, and a friction-gear be tween the pinions and the winding-drum, substantially as described.

In a metal-trimming machine, the combination of a pair of trimming'rolls, a winding-drum, and a friction-gear for driving the same, and a spring-flap on the winding-drum, substantially as described.

( In testimony whereof I a'lfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE D. HERBOLDSIIIMIJR.

lVitnesscs:

L. M. BARTLETT,

W. A. BARTLETT. 

